Coach Campbell is excited to be coaching the DYS U17 Club Volleyball Team this season. His background in the sport of volleyball includes seven years of coaching at the elementary and middle school levels, and two years coaching at the high school level. He has previously coached developmental, house, open, travel and all-star teams with DYS and LYV. He has also coached club volleyball for DYS (formerly DSYS) over the past three seasons at the U14 and U16 levels and has served on the coaching staff at Freedom High School for the past two years.

Coach Campbell was introduced to volleyball by his oldest daughter when she was in fifth grade. Although he had never played competitively, he quickly fell in love with the sport and has been coaching ever since. His daughter, Virginia, is now a freshman at VCU. Prior to volleyball, Coach Campbell coached men’s club, college (GMU) and high school rugby, winning the Virginia State High School Rugby Championship in 2013.

As an athlete, Coach Campbell played basketball, football, baseball and wrestled for his high school in southern Virginia. After high school, he discovered the sport of rugby and went on to play for world tournaments, as well as locally for the Northern Virginia Rugby Football Club, where he won a national championship in 1996. He has represented the United States in rugby on the US National team from 1993 to 1996, playing against then-world-champions Australia, as well as Argentina, Bermuda, Canada and Ireland. He also represented the United States in international tournaments in Malaysia, Japan, and Hawaii, and at the World Championships in Hong Kong. Coach Campbell represented the United States All-Navy rugby team and the United States Combined Service rugby teams from 1989 through 1992.

When not coaching, Coach Campbell enjoys fitness training, playing old boys rugby, playing recreational volleyball, reading, trying new restaurants, and hanging out with his family.

U16

Head Coach, Tom Begley

Coach Begley played volleyball for over 30 years at various levels – indoors and out. He was an intramural champion at Fairfield University (they had no men’s program). He has played on 6-man USAV Clubs in Connecticut and Virginia where he mostly played middle and outside hitter. He has played doubles, co-ed doubles and reverse co-ed doubles in both sand and grass and went to the US Nationals playing reverse co-ed. He has been coaching club for 6+ years. He coached in the Loudoun County Youth Volleyball for 5 years, assisted at the high school level and is the Varsity Volleyball coach at Park View High School. He was Dulles Conference Coach of the Year in 2017. He is IMPACT and CAP I certified and attended Gold Medal Squared’s Coaching Clinic and completed the Art of Coaching Volleyball Certification by Jim Stone. He loves coaching and is always trying to find ways to be a better coach. He brings a lot of enthusiasm, knowledge (and volume) to his teams. Coach Tom’s Philosophy’s: I am Interested in each person - who they are, how they are motivated and what they want from this experience. I am relentless about being better - both for myself and for my team. Every game, practice and every time we touch the ball gives us that chance. I want players who are relentless about getting better too. I am honest even when it is hard. I want to make my players think (and understand) the game so they can adapt. I teach life skills through volleyball. I want to nurture a love for volleyball that lasts long after the season is over.

Asst. Coach, Dottie McKillop

Coach Dottie started out coaching with her husband, Coach Tom Begley, in the LYV league many years ago and continued on to be the head coach of her own LYV team and then officially becoming assistant coach for club volleyball for 6 years and Park View High School this current season.She has a daughter that has played volleyball since middle school and a husband that has always coached, which has allowed her coaching skills to grow, along with her love and passion for the game.When she’s not coaching, she is watching it on TV or in person, or discussing volleyball with her husband. Coach Dottie prides herself as being the volleyball coach ‘mom’ that everyone knows will be there for them and take care of them, as well as being the go-to person for any questions or concerns player’s parents may have.She manages the team, records player statistics and runs work teams and player responsibilities during tournaments. She is IMPACT and CAP I certified.

U15 - Rob

Head Coach, Rob Shields

Hello, my name is Rob Shields and I will be coaching the U15 DYS volleyball club this season. My experience ranges from both playing volleyball and coaching. I have played many years in adult Men’s and Co-ed volleyball leagues. I have also raising three daughters who have all played volleyball. For two of my daughters, volleyball became their #1 sport and as such my interest in coach has grown along with their own progression. I have coached for 6 years with the middle school LYV program, including in 2016 at the Open 1 level where our Seneca Ridge team just finished in the top 4 in Loudoun County. Last year was my first-year coaching at the Club level with MB Volleyball and our team finished with a strong showing and more importantly the girls had a great experience on the team. We ended up finishing 5th in the Region for Club teams and 30th overall out of 117 teams. Coach Tom Begley from the U16’s team will be my assistant at practices this season as well, so feel free to check out his Bio as well. What I feel like I bring to the table as a coach is my love for sports and the “Team” atmosphere that I will create for our U15 DYS volleyball team this season. A lot of my coaching philosophy may sound cliché, but I truly feel that so many life lessons are learned through sports.

Team Philosophy: My main goals are for the girls to have an excellent experience playing club volleyball while developing their skills and the team chemistry. Ideally, I would like to have a team where everyone plays every game, as I feel this creates true team comradery, keeps everyone ready to play, reduces drama, and keeps all players fresh for the long tournaments that we will be in.

Team Mentality - Create an environment that is team focused and promotes comradery amongst the players and a desire for them to want to play and compete for one another.

Having Fun – The girls have many stressors in life already, volleyball should be an outlet that the girls enjoy and look forward to going to, and get to compete at a physical and mental level doing a sport they love

Staying Positive – Everything does not always go well when you step out onto the court and compete. Staying positive and picking up your teammates will go a long way to helping the team overcoming adversity on the court.

Being Aggressive & Not Being Afraid to make a Mistake – I am not going to be one of those coaches who pulls a player out immediately for making one mistake. I prefer to make on the court adjustments instead. I encourage the girls to try new skills that they are developing in games, maybe not when the score is 23-24, but you get the point. I believe playing aggressive in just about any sport is the way to best compete …you cannot be shy is sports and expect to win; you have to want to take it!

Practiceto Get Better - Come to practice ready to play, learn, have fun, try new skills, compete, and get Better!

I hope this give you a good sense of the type of coach I will hopefully be for your daughter during the U15 season.

U15 – Steve

Head Coach, Steve Chronister

Coach Chronister is starting his second season at DYS Thunder volleyball. He coached the 15U DYS volleyball team during the 2017-18 season. The DYS team had a great year last year, winning the gold in the CHRVA Regionals in their division. He has coached Rock Ridge High School Freshman & JV volleyball teams. Coach Chronister is a NFHS Certified Interscholastic coach and is IMPACT certified. He was an outside hitter and setter for his high school team and was captain of his college intramural team at George Mason University. Coach Chronister also has many years experience coaching athletics such as softball for Rock Ridge HS and several travel teams. He strives to focus on playing time for all players and improving their overall skill set. His coaching philosophy is the desire to win, to improve player's skills, and to believe in each other. This is something Coach Chronister pushes his players to feel in all things they do. A love for the game and respect for teammates can make any group of young women reach goals that seemed once impossible.

Asst. Coach, Stephen McCormick

Coach McCormick’s love of sports began while watching his older brothers and sisters play throughout high school and college. His love flourished when he started to play which eventually earned him an athletic scholarship to Virginia Tech. It was while at Virginia Tech that his knowledge of the games flourished and he began to notice patterns across all sports and the strategies behind them.

When Coach McCormick’s children decided they wanted to play sports, it was only natural for him to want to help out and coach them. He was a volunteer coach for Loudoun Soccer for over eight years. When his daughter decided to play volleyball at age 10, he attended multiple coaching clinics and jumped in to help at the club level. Coach McCormick has been assisting DYS Thunder for three years now and this will be his second year as an assistant coach.

Coach McCormick brings an enthusiasm and love of sports to the game and is looking forward to working with Coach Chronister to develop a winning and well-rounded team.

U14

Head Coach, Jimmy Kerwin

Coach Jimmy will be the U14 coach for DYS Thunder. This is his 3rd year of coaching club volleyball with DYS. Prior to coaching our club teams, he coached our house volleyball teams for several years. Coaching has always been a passion for him. Before coaching volleyball, he coached boys basketball. Coach Jimmy is Impact and Safe Sport certified through USA volleyball. He has also played volleyball for several seasons in various co-ed leagues in Loudoun County and often still tries to play when the opportunity presents itself. “My philosophy with regard to coaching is simple in that I focus on player development over winning. My goal is to ensure that your daughter enjoys her club experience while improving her skills, thereby benefiting the team as a whole. This is not to imply that winning is not important but when we first focus on player and team development the winning is a bi-product of that work”.

Asst. Coach, Charity Kerwin

Coach Charity will be the assistant coach for the U14 DYS Thunder. This will be her 3rd year of coaching in the club volleyball program. Prior to coaching at the club level, Coach Charity was a coach in our house program for over 5 years. She has coached all levels ranging from 3rd and 4th graders all the way up to the 7th and 8th grade teams. She has also been the head coach of the DSYS rec league All-Star team. Coach Charity is IMPACT and Safe Sport certified. She has played volleyball in several co-ed leagues in the local area. Her goal is to not only focus on making the girls better volleyball players but also better people beyond the confines of the court. She has a passion for volleyball but more importantly she has a passion for making sure the club volleyball experience is a positive one for each player. She also has a passion for ensuring the players have an opportunity to learn from mistakes or moments when things didn't "go the way you expected or wanted". She believes that attitude is everything. Coach Charity strongly believes in being a good teammate on and off the court.

"I believe that no one is perfect, that as a person we need to learn that at a young age. Once you think you're perfect you stop learning and growing, which defeats the purpose of life. I strive to make your daughter a better player and a better community member. Too often in life we are taught that you must be perfect, but it isn't us as an individual that needs to be perfect, it's essential that we learn how to fail well and strive to be better than before".

U12

Head Coach, Matthew Demitz

Coach Demitz has been playing volleyball for over 30 years. As a senior in high school, he played for the University of Maryland Junior Olympic Volleyball Team where he specialized as an outside hitter. Throughout his adult life he has played for multiple 6-man club teams, playing both middle and outside hitter. For the past two years Mr. Demitz has coached the Seneca Ridge NVVA LYV 456/ House teams and one year as the head coach for the U12 MB Volleyball Club and is an IMPACT certified coach. Coach Demitz's main coaching philosophy is to teach his players to work as a team, not as individuals. The team goal is to always promote a positive atmosphere and to motivate each of the players to do their best.